The 49ers have spent this offseason upgrading the roster.
They now have better pass rushers, a deep group of running backs, some young wide receivers and some new blood at linebacker and in the secondary.
But what happens if they lose Robbie Gould?
Right now, the 49ers’ outstanding kicker is in limbo. He’s sat out this offseason at his home in Chicago, and as the start of training camp approaches on July 26, San Francisco controls the rights to Gould – the team put its franchise tag on him – but Gould controls his future.
At this point, he could eventually decide to report for training camp, try to force the Niners to trade him (to the Bears, where he spent most of his career) or he could retire to stay in the Chicago area with his wife and children.
This week, Gould told a reporter in Chicago that he’s not making any decisions ye about how this all will play out.
"It’s a complicated situation," Gould said. "The way I’ve kind of approached it is, I want to spend time with my family. And I let my agent handle it, and and if anything comes up that I have to make a decision or be in the know, he’ll call me and let me know. But right now there’s nothing to really know, and I’m just enjoying being home and being in Chicago.
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"I’m at a point in my career where my family is what’s going to dictate the decisions that I make."
Gould has not signed the franchise-tagged contract offer from the 49ers that would be worth about $4.9 million for 2019.
Though Gould is 36, he’s been brilliant the past two seasons. He led the NFL in field-goal accuracy in 2018 (97.1 percent, 33-of-34) and led the NFL with 39 field goals in 2017. Since coming to the Bay Area he’s missed just three of 75 field-goal tries.
